Title Comparing data protection regulation models of the eu and the us: which one is more preferred by the society? /
Translation of Title Duomenų apsaugos reguliavimo modelių ES ir JAV palyginimas: kuriam modeliui visuomenė teikia pirmenybę?
Authors Matulytė, Raminta
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Pages 69
Keywords [eng] data protection regulation, EU model, US model, economic analysis of law, social preference, ex-ante regulation, ex-post liability
Abstract [eng] This master thesis analyses and compares the data protection regulation models in the European Union and the United States. The comparison of these models is performed by indicating their main features and assessing their social costs and efficiency through the lens of economic analysis of law. The EU’s model is based on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which contains a comprehensive set of rules varying from the data subjects’ rights to administrative fines mechanism. The well-established network of national supervisory authorities and their proactive action toward the GDPR enforcement makes the GDPR a working tool and not a dead letter. However, while it is undisputed that the GDPR is the highest standard to be achieved from the human rights perspective, it does not escape criticism for being an excessive burden. The US chosen approach is the opposite of the EU’s comprehensive data protection regulation. Instead of having one comprehensive data protection legislation at a federal level, the US has adopted a number of sectoral laws that concern only the specific type of data or specific data actors. However, in recent years, discussions on the adoption of broad privacy laws are as active as ever. The importance of comparing the EU and US data protection regulation models results from the repeated clashes between these jurisdictions concerning cross-border data transfers. One way to look at these models is through the economic analysis of law. This master thesis relies on S. Shavell’s model establishing determinants that help define the social preference for each data protection regulation model in terms of ex-ante regulation and ex-post liability. It is almost undisputed that looking closely from the human rights perspective, society will prefer the GDPR. However, this work proves that looking strictly from the economic perspective, the society shall prefer more the US approach because of its economic efficiency and balance of data actors’ interests.
Dissertation Institution Vilniaus universitetas.
Type Master thesis
Language English
Publication date 2022